


The Color of Dawn

by Blazing_Awakening2411



Series: Color of Dawn AU [1]
Category: Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Future, Askr (Fire Emblem Heroes), Multi, Other, Spoilers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-02
Updated: 2020-09-21
Packaged: 2021-03-06 01:21:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,080
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25841287
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Blazing_Awakening2411/pseuds/Blazing_Awakening2411
Summary: Byleth tries save as many people as he can from the eternal flames, after he awakes from a dream and a past he never should've seen.Edelgard, Dimitri, and Claude meet their future counterparts by chance and they realize just how terrible things will become.Can they come to terms with each their pasts to create a brighter future for all of Fódlan?Or will the events of many terrible timelines be repeated once again?Updates eventually. (I think.)I've changed the fic title and descriptions a few times, sorry if that's confusing.
Relationships: Dimitri Alexandre Blaiddyd & Edelgard von Hresvelg & Claude von Riegan, Dimitri Alexandre Blaiddyd & My Unit | Byleth & Claude von Riegan, Other Relationship Tags to Be Added
Series: Color of Dawn AU [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2027968
Comments: 2
Kudos: 28





	1. Dreams

**Author's Note:**

> This originally was just going to be a chapter of one of my other fics but there was so much content I wanted to add so here we are.
> 
> The main story will start at Chapter 6, after they [SPOILERS] return to Fodlan.
> 
> this fic has more kudos than my other longer running fic(The Future Beckons). What's ironic is that this fic was originally going to be a single chapter of that work too, lol. 
> 
> If you want to chat I'm pretty sure my Discord is SolarisAntinomy#0872(will update if I change it).

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Part 1: White Clouds."

**_Then_ **

~

_Her form is a metaphor._

_Without the influence of the professor, she is but a corruption of what she should've been._

_Her efforts, wild and unrefined, couldn't have prevailed._

_Not then, and certainly not now._

_Her monstrous form fades away, leaving an emotionless shell behind._

_She's weak. She knows it._

_F_ _or a second, she sits there, fragments of a broken dream lying all around her, strewn across a battlefield rife with blood and death._

_He stares at her. She returns his gaze._

_No words come out._

_He offers his hand, a faint smile evident on his lips._

_"El."_

_She slips a hand..._

_in the wrong direction._

_The other one tenses, unsheathing their sword._

_She hurls a dagger into his chest._

_And as it cuts through the air the memories come flooding back_

_They were siblings_

_They loved each other_

_They killed each other_

_He reflexively slips his lance a little bit forward, just enough to pierce her broken armor._

_He realizes what he's done, and a single tear makes it past the floodgates. He retracts his lance, and casts it aside._

_Once the dam is broken, all of his emotion floods out._

_He falls to his knees, and slips her hand in his one last time._

_Her hand soars away, and goes limp as the last of her energy leaves her body._

_He gives a sad smile. A single tear falls down her face, as they reminisce about what could've been._

_Time stops._

_She slumps over as the last breath falls from her lips, the last pieces of her world-changing dream soaring away into the dawn._

_He stands up, hardens his face, rips the dagger from his chest, and it falls to the ground._

_He gave it to her._

_She gave it back._

_They were siblings._

_But they didn't realize it until the very end._

_~_

He turns on his back, resting a hand on his stomach.

And then, he is whisked away to another world, one with.... a different outcome.

~

_The rain falls, the world itself weeping._

_The blood spilled... it can neither be reversed nor brought back._

_His entire life flashes through his head._

_Justice is in his grasp..._

_He looks up._

_He clutches his lance in his hands._

_She's come._

_What blinds him from reality in another world... is absent here._

_Time stands still around them, but the rain falls._

_"Must you continue to conquer? Continue to kill?"_

_"What about you? Must you reconquer? Perpetuate the bloodshed in retaliation? You're no different than I."_

_"I am NOT you! I fight for those you've killed, that they will finally find peace! Stop this madness, Edelgard! Let the world find peace..."_

_"...This path I walk... There's no going back. I will not stop. I've made countless sacrifices, and I will make an eternity's worth of more if it means I will pave the way for Fódlan's new dawn!"_

_"This idyllic future, this peace you speak of... it is built on a foundation of corpses... of tears... I will end it all. For them."_

_"You are too chained to the ways of the past to see the future, Dimitri... It is up to me to show you the truth."_

\---

_Areadhbar shatters her crown into pieces._

_Her hair flails wildly in the ferocious winds._

_She looks just like she did 5 years ago._

\---

_He falls backwards, the world spinning._

_Aymr is brought back to its wielder, blood dripping from the spikes around its edge._

_His friend, on the verge of death, uses the last of his energy to be by his Highness' side._

_He collapses right next to him._

_"Your Majesty... Your Majesty!"_

_"S-Stop calling me that..."_

_"Ah, thank the... No..."_

_"Dedue... It seems... I... We will die...before we can... nnn... get revenge for... everyone..."_

_"..."_

_"My family... my friends... my home... Everything... that truly mattered to me... I couldn't... even protect them..."_

_"You're... You're wrong! Because of you... I was able to live on until today... You saved me. These past nine years... I am proud to have been at your side... It was a joy I never could have hoped for. Despite all... I count myself... grrrh... a lucky man."_

_"Is that so? I see... I am glad..."_

_They smile at each other, as they fade away beside each other, joining the spirits of the dead that had plagued him for so long._

_But something is different. They are at peace._

_"You must be weary... Your Majesty. Please...rest in peace."_

_When the Professor sees them, he sheds many tears._

_They were his students too._

_Amidst the pool of blood... they're smiling._

_\---_

_The dream morphs into another._

_"Guhhh..."_

_Defeated, he wipes dripping blood from the corner of his lips._

_"I see now... I've read this whole situation... terribly wrong...."_

_The Professor comes closer._

_What have I done?_

_The Professor opens their mouth to speak, but nothing comes out._

_"It seems all my hopes and dreams are... nothing but ash... Edelgard... Make the world better.... for me...."_

_He loosens his feet from the stirrups, and falls from his wyvern, never to get up again._

_When the Professor kneels by his side, there's a smirk on his face._

_Edelgard and the Professor discover that he is the Crown Prince of Almyra in a war that neither of them had foreseen._

_They know it is their fault._

_They thought it was for the better._

_But his death was in vain._

_They found that out the hard way._

\---

_The ceiling of the cathedral shatters into pieces as the last of the Immaculate One's once-immense power fades away._

_Time seems to stop as the dying body of a dragon falls._

_And then the Professor is there, regretting, hoping._

_They are there._

_They don't even feel the weight of the Sword of the Creator leave their hand._

_But before they know it, they are running._

_The massive body turns into that of a woman, young, but frail._

_She lands gently in the Professor's arms._

_Despite that last glimmer of hope, the Professor knows she isn't coming back._

_They did all they could._

_...Right?_

_The tears begin to flow._

_Under the morning sun, a long-awaited reunion comes to pass._

_Rhea smiles._

_"...Mother...?"_

_The Professor smiles._

_Rhea's own fades._

_She tries to wipe the tears away, but her strength is so little it isn't even enough to move her hand._

_"Why... are you... crying...?"_

_"Shhh... I am here, Rhea. I am here.... Rest."_

_What other choice does she have?_

_She closes her eyes, and they don't open again._

_As petals gently fall around them, the Professor weeps._

\---

_Soldiers run across a battlefield. Pegasus knights charge. An army clashes with their enemy._

_Something flashes in the sky, catching the attention of the army._

_A sword falls from the sky and lands in the center of the battlefield._

_An explosion destroys the army._

_A man lands on the ground in the center of the chaos._

_Multiple soldiers charge as he lifts his weapon._

_A lone woman stands waiting to meet the man, who, compared to her, is enormous._

_A soldier jumps in front to protect her from his attack, but is struck down._

_A soldier shouts. "Lady Seiros!"_

_Seiros and the man face each other and he attacks._

_The rest of the army is destroyed._

_The one called Seiros draws her weapon and attacks him._

_They battle on what seems like the precipice of life and death itself._

_He disarms her, but she says nothing._

_"Heh."_

_Disarming him by pulling his sword out of hand with her own, she beats him down with nothing but lightning-quick fists and kicks._

_She puts a dagger to his throat._

_"Tell me, Nemesis, do you recall the Red Canyon?"_

_She starts stabbing him._

_"You'll die for that! Die... DIE! You took...everything... that I loved!"_

_She stabs him a final time as she finishes._

_The remaining members of her army cheer as she lifts Nemesis's weapon and embraces it in the morning light._

_"He's gone now, Mother..."_

_\---_

Again, he is whisked somewhere far away.

Or maybe, not as far away as he thought.

He looks at the girl on the throne.

_\---_

"...Oh my. What could have brought _you_ here?"


	2. Heroes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It wasn't a dream.
> 
> It was a glimpse into another reality.
> 
> Only when his dream comes true does he realize it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey look they can support now.

Edelgard remembered the early morning of that day exactly one decade ago as she sipped tea in the morning light.

Everything changed when she had met the Professor...

The castle gardens were so beautiful at this time of year.

She had this garden all to herself.

 _Plenty of time to think_ , she mused.

She was taken to a time when war was a thing of the past, when she could spend time with all of her friends in the Academy...

When she and Dimitri were on... relatively well terms. Not the best of friends, but they could still talk to each other like normal people.

They both wanted peace for the land, but...

They had different ideas for how to attain it.

And that was their fatal flaw.

\---

Dimitri walked a cobblestone path in the garden.

The soft sunlight gave every little blossom in the vines hanging down the latticed fence a beautiful color. 

He could marvel at them forever.

Admiring the tranquility of it all, he didn't notice Edelgard until she talked to him.

"Dimitri?"

He stopped to look at her.

"Oh... Edelgard. It is you."

Edelgard stared for a solid second before excusing herself. 

The Prince and the Summoner had explained to her that most of the soldiers in the Order of Heroes had come from... 'different worlds'.

It helped explain how most people here had never heard of Fodlan, or the Adrestian Empire...

But she never really considered that there might be a different world that resembled her own.

The Dimitri that stood right next to her... There were some differences. He had a calmer... aura. Like he was... at peace.

She couldn't say the same for herself. 

The Dimitri that _she_ knew... didn't have an eyepatch. He was dead. And she could sense that it was the same for her with the eyepatch Dimitri standing right next to her.

It didn't help starting a conversation that much, that was for sure. 

They'd seen each other a few times, but there were other people there, so that would've been inappropriate.

_She cursed this 'Legendary Hero' business. All she'd done was free the people of Fodlan. Started, and finished a war to end all lies._

_The lies that came directly from the church._

_So that what happened to her would never happen again._

_People would be free from the domineering presence of Crests in some and the absence of said Crests in others._

_So what exactly made her 'Legendary'? The amount of people she killed? Those whose lives she inevitably ruined?_

_She didn't see how she could be a 'Hero', either._

Lost in thought, she realized how long she had sat there awkwardly while Dimitri started to slip away.

"Wait."

"Hm?"

"I'm sorry, Dimitri. I... We... _Ahem_. Let me start over. If I am correct... in your world, I fought against you?"

"Yes."

"Am I...?"

He said nothing. But a downcast look fell over his eyes, and it seemed that the darkness that had unknowingly loomed over him for so long was manifesting again.

"...I didn't want to. I offered you another chance. But you forced my hand. ...I never had a chance to apologize." He took a deep breath. This was a chance he might never get again... So he surely wouldn't waste it. "...I'm sorry, Edelgard. Sorry that we couldn't see eye-to-eye, that all this death and destruction that could have been avoided came anyway, and that... that I never made the effort to bring us back together again."

"I'm sorry too, Dimitri. I shunned you, and betrayed your trust... I once called you the King of Delusion. But now that I see you here, at peace... I think maybe I was the one with delusions of grandeur. I was willing to kill all of my former friends and classmates... And on a few occasions, I did. The thoughts I've had have haunted me ever since."

Even though their perspectives clashed... maybe they were not all different. 

"Edelgard... Finding peace is hard. I've had to go through that kind of torment for years... The screams, the blood, the fire... Even now, a part of me believes that I will never truly find peace... But when they've gone, there is no bringing them back. The death of Rodrigue gave me a new outlook on life... I feel that only a person like the Professor could help me through such things. Without him... I do not know where I would have ended up." 

"...Perhaps on the end of a blade." They chuckled lightly. "Speaking of the Professor... What is your professor like?"

"Well, if our worlds are any similar, I'd say she would be much like yours."

"Wait, your Professor is a woman? That's strange. I wonder what that would be like."

"If I recall correctly, I saw both of them walking around in the barracks the other day talking to each other."

_Hmm. It seems I'm mistaken. Perhaps having a conversation wouldn't be so hard after all._

Claude marveled at how they could still be right here, right below him, even though they were dead back home.

They were talking like the best of friends, when less than a year ago he'd seen them at each other's throats.

He couldn't believe how they could from friends to bitter enemies. And all in just a few years.

Well, the circumstances all of them were in were pretty bad, to say the least.

But there was nothing they could do about _that_.

He'd been silently observing them from the sky. Today's weather was good. No wind, except for the occasional chilly breeze, and the sun shining bright as day.

He quietly descended on his wyvern, and landed silently in the garden. 

"Well then. This is gonna be a treat."

Edelgard and Dimitri turned to the newcomer.

"Oh. Claude."

Claude made a pushing motion with his hands towards them.

"Continue. It makes me happy to see you two this way."

They looked at each other, and Edelgard asked Claude, "And why might that be?"

Without any hint of emotion, Claude replied, "Well, in my world you two are, uh, let's just say, sleeping in the dirt. And it was indirectly/directly both of you trying to murder the heck out of the other. Again. So maybe having another class reunion like this isn't so bad after all. Besides, ice breakers are my favorite kind of conversation."

Edelgard smiled. "I admit, I miss speaking with the other House leaders like this. As friends, and as students. Nothing more."

Dimitri looked at her, and then at Claude. "Yes, this makes me feel... I believe the saying is _'all warm and fuzzy inside'_."

Claude, ever the inconsistent at staying on topic, said, "So your Professor is a man, Edelgard? Huh. The Professor I know is a female as well."

Dimitri smiled. "Well then. Maybe we all have some things in common."

Claude frowned, a blush forming on his face. "So I guess that means you're also...?"

Dimitri frowned also. "Also what...?"

Edelgard snickered. She'd noticed the ring on Claude's finger a while ago.

Dimitri's eyes widened. He was always pretty oblivious.

"Oh. Ohhhh. No, nononono. I could never do that to the Professor."

He paused.

"Wait, Claude, are you--"

Claude suddenly had a suspicious coughing fit.

"Excuse me for a sec, I'm busy-- I mean, I gotta go somewhere-- Anyway, bye!"

Edelgard's fit of laughter grew.

"Now that I think about it, I guess out of all of us _Claude_ would be the one who would be in love with the Professor. Now that I think about it, he seemed especially affectionate around 'Teach'."

Claude hid around the bushes, then decided to fly on his wyvern and come back a few minutes later when the blush on his face faded away.

Their conversing lasted for hours on end, and they left the garden feeling much better than when they had entered.

Having the chance to correct their mistakes and finding some closure was what they all needed.

So, when they left, they went their separate ways, but they all could not help but think the same thing.

_What if things had been different?_


	3. Chance

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What can they see in their eyes that faded long ago in their own?
> 
> Life. 
> 
> Passion for it. Yearning for it.  
> They have their whole lives ahead of them.
> 
> Something they couldn't say for themselves.
> 
> *edited to include Seeds of Fodlan Banner*

The weekly Summoning event held at the Summoner's Shrine had always been a commonplace event in the world of Askr.

Nothing out of the ordinary.

Some new faces, new soldiers to bolster the already impressive might of the Order of Heroes.

But this week...

This week seemed different. 

The Summoner had come to them, telling them something about using some sort of clairvoyance that he could use to see where the Summoned Heroes would come from. Of course it wasn't always perfect, but that's just how it was. When he left he also added in some offhanded mumbling about "the final Weekly 30th Anniversary Generations Revival Banner" and "not being able to summon any Three Houses Heroes because Fire Emblem Heroes took up too much space on my phone", whatever those things were.

They ignored most of what he said, but what he told them before that caught their attention.

Apparently, these Heroes were going to come from Fodlan.

Now, it most likely couldn't and wouldn't be _their_ Fodlan, but...

There was a feeling they couldn't escape.

A feeling that, maybe if they couldn't escape their fates, that these people could. They wondered why they had such a feeling.

Their questions were answered as they stood behind the Summoner, staring at the still Shrine. 

The Summoner aimed the Breidablik at the Shrine... and pulled the trigger.

A beam of light hit the orbs concentrated in the center of the shrine. Several multicolored balls of light spiraled towards the orbs, and when they finally reached the orbs, a flash of light occured. A large beam of light shot into the sky, and then the blinding light made them recoil for a few seconds...

They were speechless when the light finally withdrew. 

Standing there, in full Officer's Academy uniform, 

were the young House Leaders, as well as some of their students.

They stared each other in the eyes.   
The elders found something in the eyes of the youthful that they themselves lacked…

The innocence of youth. Life, a passion for it, yearning for it.

Something that had faded away, long ago, from their lives.

These people were still students. _Still children._

It was rough for the kids to see how the world, the war had affected their grim and grittier counterparts, somewhat for the better, but… mostly otherwise. 

They just stood there for what seemed like millenia.  
It seemed like the rest of the Order of Heroes had no idea what was going on either, because no one could eke out a word.

The silence, the seemingly impenetrable silence stabbed into their very hearts, grasping their minds and never letting go.

When the silence was finally broken, it was Dimitri who finally managed to eke out a word.

“So… it’s you.”

Claude, trying to mask his confusion, gestured towards them.

“No, it’s us.”

Edelgard put a hand to her head in embarrassment.

“Aren’t they the same?”

The younger Dimitri and Edelgard looked at each other in amazement, pointing right back at them. 

“Is that…?”  
“Are they…?”

The younger Claude, as if he didn’t care at all, walked to the middle of the cluster of people and started running his mouth like it was just another day for the seemingly idiotic goofball that was the up-and-coming Duke of Leicester. 

“Aaaaall right, I’m sure we’ve all had enough of this...Dimitri, this is Dimitri. Edelgard, Edelgard.”  
Finally, he put a hand on the elder Claude’s shoulder.

“Hello, Claude. How’ve ya been?”

“Fine and dandy. You?”

“Exactly the same, my friend.”

While the Claudesters continued their little… chat, the less sociable half-siblings found it difficult to engage in conversation. When they tried to say something, they couldn’t. 

The first sentence that Dimitri could get out was “What… happened? Why am I… like this?”  
The other Dimitri looked at his hands, seeing nothing but two bloodstained weapons that had ended so many lives… Even if he had made peace with his demons… He didn’t think he could make peace with himself. “I… I do not know.”

“How long has it been?”  
“...Five long years of torture.” He closed his eyes. “It felt like a thousand…”  
“Five... years?” The others looked at him as he said it. "Well... The war lasted five years... It has been 7."  
“In half a decade… I will become something… something else.”  
The other students mumbled, exclaiming in hushed whispers, "Five years?!"

The older Dimitri chuckled.  
“I won’t deny it. If I had to give you some advice to prevent becoming this way… There is much darkness in your heart. Find a way to overcome it. I was a monster… but the Professor saved me, once again.” He smiled. Genuinely. For a second he almost looked like the Dimitri standing in front of him...

  
“...What’s this about ‘saving you’?”  
A voice from behind him, one he hadn’t heard in a long time.  
He turned around to see a welcoming smile, an empathic voice of reason that had helped him get through his worst days… and a lively friend that made his best days even better. One that he wished he could see again... though their duties kept them from having even _one_ cup of tea…  
“...Professor?”

Her smile deepened.  
“You look… taller.”  
They chuckled.  
“I haven’t seen you-- my version of you in a year, and when I finally see you, you crack a joke at my expense? That sounds… exactly like the Professor I know.”  
His smile turned a little somber.

“What is it?”

“I’ve only seen you… twice, ever since you became Archbishop.”

Her countenance changed into one of surprise.

“Me? Archbishop? I don’t think… What happened to Lady Rhea?”

“For the most part, she’s left the Church… But I believe she’s for the most part living in Zanado, away from the church, along with Lady Cassandra--I mean Lady Catherine.”

“Oh my gosh, is that… _Dimitri_?”

A bubbly, energetic voice materialized from behind the younger Dimitri.

Another suave, more masculine voice also sounded.

“Which one? I guess we’re seeing double today. Well, maybe not exactly…”

The elder Dimitri could also see one more person behind his younger counterpart, but it seemed like she was too shocked to say anything.

“Annette? Sylvain? Ingrid? What are you doing here?”

The elder Dimitri smiled warmly, much like he would’ve done back at the academy.

"Your Highness..." Dedue stepped up to speak with his liege.

"Dedue, there's no need to be so formal with me. This is Askr, not Fodlan, after all."

"But your Highness--"

" _Dedue._ "

Despite a slight grimace and a wince, after a while, Dedue bowed, and then relaxed his tense body.

"...As you say, Dimitri."

* * *

Edelgard took one look at her future counterpart, who had one hand resting on her hips.

“So, it seems I’ve become Empress.”  
“Emperor,” she corrected, adopting a thoughtful pose with her hand on her chin. “Yes. It seems quite so.”  
“What… happens in 5 years to remove all semblance of emotion from my face?”  
  
The older Edelgard closed her eyes, lost in thought. It was true, she had not found any real reason to manifest emotion… the Emperor had always had to put on a brave face in the face of threats like the Church and the Kingdom.  
She had taught herself to suppress her emotions, ever since before her time at the academy. As a result, because being the Emperor called for a strong, resolute person, an expression of solid steel was always glued to her face, even if there was something more underneath.

“Lady Edelgard, Your Majesty… You look… Positively radiant.”  
A younger Hubert, with longer hair and dressed in Academy uniform, immediately got down on one knee, saluting the Emperor.  
“Hubert, I am not the same person as the young woman standing in front of me. You do not have to address me the same way, either.”  
“Your Majesty, I--”  
“Call me Edelgard. Treat me like you would treat anyone that isn’t me.”  
“...As you wish, La-- _*ahem*_... Edelgard.”  
Emperor Edelgard and Princess Edelgard chuckled. 

“I doubt even an older version of myself could be superior to someone as imposing as Her Majesty.”  
A frowning younger Ferdinand in Officer’s Academy uniform joined them, with a Steel Lance in his hand.  
The Emperor grinned. “The prideful Prime Minister I know wouldn’t back down so easily.”  
“You mean…?”  
Edelgard stared at the sky, smiling wistfully.  
“Indeed, seeing you all takes me back to a lifetime ago.”  
“Aww, don’t go all old on us, Edie! You still look as pretty as you did at the Academy!”  
“Thank you, Dorothea. Ever the kind songstress.”  
"You look beautiful, Edelgard. It is as if the sun itself is your crown."  
"Thank you, Petra. Your compliments mean so much to me."

Bernadetta squealed, partly in terror and partly in awe.

"If my appearance is intimidating, I apologize," she said with a chuckle. "It tells me that it is doing its intended purpose, but I assure you have nothing to fear."

Bernadetta stopped hiding behind an irritated Hubert.

Linhardt snored.

  
For a second, Edelgard stopped to take it all in. A life that was once hers, but had drifted away… And then, she buried her feelings back underneath. It wouldn’t do any good to always dwell on the past…

  
And then she tried her best to answer the swarm of questions thrown her way by the curious students.

* * *

Claude and Claude had always been the best of friends.

Well, partly because Claude had always been a friend to himself, but to be able to talk to yourself, reaffirm your own thoughts and opinions, and cook up some more schemes was always a plus.

“Hey, is that Failnaught?”

The other Legendary Lords weren’t holding the weapons, because it was mainly discouraged to have your gigantic battleaxe in one hand while giving a handshake to new Heroes with the other. Helped to encourage the new Heroes to feel like this was a family, and not a glorified mercenary company. But that didn’t matter to cool Claude, the capable, captivating connoisseur of tactics, schemes, and everything in between!

Claude grasped the Failnaught in one hand, cutting a dashing figure… and it certainly helped that he had kept his sideburns unbelievably, impossibly well cut during his time here.

“Yyyup. What, you wanna get a feel for it?”  
“Sure. Being prepared to wield your own legendary weapon always helps.”  
“Catch.” He tossed it to Claude, who lifted and grasped it in his hand, getting a feel for the heavy grip and limbs.  
  
“Claude, that is a _Hero's Relic_. You would do well not to treat a piece of history such as Failnaught as you would a common weapon.” Lorenz stood in front of them, arms crossed.  
  
“Yes, I know it’s a Hero’s Relic. _My_ Hero’s Relic. I’ll treat it with alll the love it deserves, right… Naughty?”

“Ugh, Claude, you never learn. You even gave your weapon a name? When will you take anything seriously?” Lysithea stood next to Lorenz, adopting a similar posture.

"Um, are you sure you should be doing that?" Marianne asked incredulously. "O-Oh, that was just a question. Don't mind me," she whispered as everyone looked away from her.

Raphael munched attentively on a turkey leg that came from Goddess knows where.

“Well, Claude, the vote is certainly not in our favor. Who should we have make this even?”

Everyone glanced at a whistling Hilda, twirling Freikugel in one hand and putting a finger on her chin with the other. 

“My, my, Claude. You certainly look good today.”

“Thanks,” they replied in unison. They smirked at each other.

“Well, even if they are… _‘Legendary Relics’_ , they’re just _weapons_ that look a little weird, so…” She trailed off.

Marianne mumbled something unintelligible.

"Aaaaand, that's 4-3. Hilda's counsel is _obviously_ more valuable than anyone else's."

"Why, thank you!"

"The Claudes win, _again!"_

The remark was mostly ignored... as was the rest of the meaningless banter that constantly poured from Claude's unfiltered mouth.

“Yes. Weapons that are vital to our cause. ...Why do you even have yours? We’re still students. We have no need for such a weapon when we are not fighting a war.” Lorenz fixed his stern gaze.

Hilda waved her hand dismissively. “Pffft. I don’t see any problems with it. Sideburns over there has his, and I bet Miss Regal and Elegant has one, and Eyepatch Mop too. And even lil’ ol’ Curls has hers, which, I might add, is a GIGANTIC HAMMER."

They all looked at Annette as she struggled to lift it up and maintain her balance as the rest of the Blue Lions walked on elsewhere.

Claude put his hands up, eager to put an end to this… conversation.

“Sooo, uh… is this everyone? All the other classes have more Heroes than we do. And us, on the other hand…”

“I wouldn’t worry about it, Claude. Besides, I don’t like it when our class gets all loud and crowded…”  
“Agreed. I think this is a change for the better.”  
“Right. Silence helps me pull off all-nighters better.”

"Silence? What silence?"

"Raphael!"

Everyone frowned.

"...What? I like eating in peace too, you know!"

The elder Claude's face lit up with an idea. “Hey, I say… How about we come up with a name for our little… posse?”

“I think Golden Deer was already enough…” Hilda replied.

The younger Claude, always snappy to reply, shot back, “How about… Claude’s Convivial Coterie?”  
  
“Claude, must you always put yourself on such a high pedestal for everyone to see?”

The Claudes ignored Lorenz.  
“I’m liking the repetition, Claude!”  
“Thanks, Claude. I knew you’d agree.”  
“Hey, how about we come up with some schemes together? With your… elderly wisdom, and my youthful vigor, we could accomplish more than we ever could alone...” A devilish smile spread across the younger Claude’s face.  
  
“Oh no you don’t.”  
“Oh, hey Teach, looking grea-- YOW! Would you-- Ow! Stop it! I’m not a kid!”  
“I _beg_ to differ.”  
The Professor pinched Claude in the ear with her hand, and dragged him away for another stern lecture like a student who ran away from a field trip.

  
The Golden Deer couldn't hold in their laughter.

Lysithea nodded assertively.

“Good riddance, I say.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> “Yes. Weapons that are vital to our cause. ...Why do you even have yours? We’re still students. We have no need for such a weapon when we are not fighting a war.”
> 
> Me when I saw the students with Hero's Relics in FEH.
> 
> sorry if this chapter took a while, lol, irl stuff can be as hard as maddening mode
> 
> Edit: whoops, sorry, forgot to summon petra for a second there  
> (Btw, every 3h character in here is available in FEH, summer variant or otherwise, except for Legendary Claude and Dimitri, which aren't in the game yet )


End file.
